Train-door-control system



July 13, 1926. 1,592,368-

L. P. HYNES TRAIN DOOR CONTROL SYSTEM Filed June 2.3, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet l Hml 1 'd+ .E y@

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NHV l+ /VENTOR *en L By LEER ffy/ves +I l' A Trofy July 13 1926.

' L. P. HYNES TRAIN DooR CONTROL sYsT-Eu FiledJune 23( 1922 2 sheets-sheet 2 ffl IIHU. IIIIIIIItHIIIIUI I L Patented July 13, 1926,

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LEEv PQHYNES, 0F ALBANY, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO CONSOLIDATED CAR-HEATING COMPANY, OF ALBANY,NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF WEST VIRGINIA.

i TRAINLDOOR-CONTROL SYSTEM.

Application led June 23, 1922. Serial No. 570,327.

For a detailed description of the present` form of my invention, 'reference may be had to the following specification and to the accompanying drawings p forming a partV thereof, wherein,

Fig.'1 shows the door engine used in my system;

Figs. 2, 3 and 4 are diagrams of the circuits I employ. Fig. 5 shows a modification.

My invention relatesto the operating of the doors on one or more cars of a train from a single control station. Heretofore, the systems used for this purpose have been extremely complicated, involvingnot only two train-wires for a set of doors, but a duplication thereof for the two sides of the car or train and a further duplication of the door valve magnetsl and hand switches. All these features taken together have necessitated an n elaborate mass of wiring which is not only costly in itself but also increases the chance of a failure by short-circuiting, crossing or grounding of one or more wires, while inspection and tracing of the circuits becomes an involved undertaking.` In addition, the` door-shoes commonly used-to arrest the closing movement oi each door also increase the complexity of the wiring and require the e nipping of each door with such/a shoe W ich is a movable member that augments vses the cost and is subject to uncertainty of action that it is important to eliminate.

It is my purpose by the present inventionto greatly 4simplify thel system and at the same time to improve its reliability and capacity. This I accomplish by a combination which enablesme to eliminate the duplicate train-wire, the duplicate valve-mag-l nets, also the. usual limit-switches and the door-shoe with its appurtenances,while retaining practically all of the desired capacity f of the previous systems with a saving in cost and a gain in reliability.

Referring tothe drawing, the door-engine is shownr in Fig. 1. l It is provided with two ldiiierential and opposed cylinders P1 and P?, the latter having a piston area one-half as large as that of the former'. The two pistonsare connected in the usual manner by a rack geared to a door-arm R whose outer end is"provided with a roller R2 which; is free to travel in a vertical slot or guide after.

nected byI a rule-joint b1 that will permit the arm to bend or buckleduring the doorclosing movement, unless prevented by the stiii'ness of a spring T which normally spreads apart the two halves of the arm by pressing against the lugs e, e thereon. In the event of the door being obstructed in closing, the spring T- will yield and break a circuit containing the magnet-controlling switcl1`E, the two contacts of -Which are mounted on the respective lugs e, e aforesaid. Its action Will be described herein- Preferably also the arm E1 is provided with the customary spring telescoping joint R3. The door engine above described may be .controlled for both directions of movement by a single valve which puts the large cylinder P1 in communication with either the admission port f2 or the exhaust Vport f1 according as the valve-magnet F is desenergized or energized. -In the former case the admitted air pressure acting on the larger ,piston of P1 'will overcome the force of the smaller ypiston of P2, which is permanently connected to the 'air supply by the pipe p2, and thereby opens the door. In

the latter case, the cylinder P1 being open to' the atmosphere, the smaller piston will act inthe opposite direction .to close the door.

The circuit-diagram of Fig. 2 shows a single train-line extending. through three cars of a train, the inter-car connections or jumpers between successive cars being indicated by the curved loops. In this figure it vis assumed that the main entrance doors are at the ends of a car and the control stations are hence at the same points, an operator A standing at the meeting of two' platforms device includes the customary battery'switch 10U G of the. lock type wherein the :witch stands normally open to disconnect the battery, but v may be unlocked and the battery connected when the controller is to be used. When its use is ended, the key which has unlocked it can then be removed only after the switch is turned back to its normal, battery-disconnecting position. In; addition to batteryswitch G, there is a circuit-closing switch at each station, by which the doorman connects to b atterythe train Wire K, or any other -port f2 of door-opening cylinder P1,

door-magnet circuit which is to be operated. `This switch will remain closed till positively o cned., Two of such circuitclosing switc es are indicated*v at B and C in Fig. 2, the similar switches to the right vof this point being marked C1, C1, etc., and

left of the station and the closure of switch C will energize it to the right thereof. Such energizing' of theA train-wire also energizes the magnetsF which are connected thereto.l and, referring again to Fig.'1, the admission which port has been closed by a spring f3, will be forced open and its exhaust port f1 closed. Thereupon the air-pressure acting on the larger piston will overcome the same p/ressure acting-on the smaller one and move it to the right, driving the air in cylinder P2 back into the supply pipe p2. The engine will thus rotate its door-arm R in an anticlockwise direction and open the door con-v trolled thereby. In this operation the door-J arm is prevented from buckling by the rulejointbl. The door will remain open so long as the control switch B or C remains closed andits valve-magnet F remains energized. To close the door the control switch is opened and thereby the valve-magnet F is ter-door car,

(le-energized. Then thev spring f3 acts to open exhaust port fland close supply port 2 of ycylinder P1. Thereupon the permanent air pressure 011 the smaller piston will drive both pistons. to the left, bringing door-arm down to its-horizontal door-closing position shown in Fig. 1. If in this closing movement the door should hit a passenger or. be otherwise obstructed, the torsion of the engine ,will cause the door-armto buckle suiiciently` against the force of spring T to operate switchE. That will disconnect magnet F from the train-wire at the point X and connect it to battery' at the point Z' (see Fig. 2) and it will thereupon act to reverse theengine, relieving the torsion on the door-arm and restoring switch E. The door will thus resume its closing movement and if the obstruction has not been removed the action of switch E will be repeated.

Fig. 3 shows the control station for a centhe train-line being ybroken by a switch corresponding to the jumper break in Fig. 2. For convenience such switch may be worked simultaneously with the battery switch @when thelatter is unlocked.

Fig. 1, operate the respective sections train-wire IS.. .Moreover, -1f desired, the

tion.

The control switches -B and C will, as l local doors on the car may bedisconnected from the train-wireand operated by a separate switch L corresponding to switches B and C. In like manner any 4desired group of doors may either have its separate control-switch, or be operated in common with other doors on the train-line K.

' It will be manifest that the foregoing arrangement greatly simplifies the train doorsysterns heretofore in use, by' reducing the wiring toa single train-wire for one side of a train without duplication of valve-niagnets or the use of relays or door-shoes. The customary limit-switches are also unnecessary, because no current is lowing'when the doors are closed and when they are open the current is necessary in order to maintain them open. There is no opportunity of prying back the door-shoe when the dooris closed which makes it necessary in the ordinary system to cut oit the current by a limit-switch when the door reaches its closed position. In my arrangement the -reversing switch E can not be operated' when v thepdoor-arm is in its horizontal position locking the door closed, while the spring telescope joint will' allow the door vto be 'opened in an emergency suiiiciently to re- -lease a /passengers clothes or otherobjects which may be caught between :the door and its jamb without starting the reversing ac- Instead of the differential engine 'shown in Figpl and described above, I may employ an engine havin cylinders of equal Apower and control it Imeans of a valve-'- engine of the aforesaid 'differential type. 105

That modification is shown in Fig. 5, wherein suitable pistons within the differential cylinders P1 and Pzvoperate a. double piston-valve H in place of the rack shown in Fig. 1. Ih the position of this piston-valve -110 which appears in Fig.'5 the pressure from cylinder P1 goes, by `way of pipe p8, to cylinder Q1 of an ordinary door engine and will cause'the engine to close the door,l the opposite cylinder :P2 being open to exhaust 115 by way'of pipe p4," cylinder P2 and pipe p5. When, however, pressure is admitted to cylinder P2 by valve magnet F, as heretotorel described, it will throw the pistonvalve to the left, as shown by dotted lines, and will thereby Abe admitted, by way of p ipe pto cylinder Q2 for opening the door, the o posite cylinder-Q,-1 beingobviously opene to the exhaust. A

What I `claim as new and desire to secure 125 by LettersPatent is:

1. The combination with a pneumatic door-engine of a control valve therefor, a magnet for operating said valve, and a yieldable switchvinterposed between the eni gine and the door an'd controlling the .said

the door and operated by the engine in the' event of obstruction of the door in closing,

and an operating ma net for the said valve in a circuit controlle by said switch.

3. The combination with a pneumatic door-engine having a smaller plston constantly exposed to 4air-supply pressure and a larger piston intermittentl exposed to said pressure, of va valve contro ling the pressure on the larger piston, a ieldable switch between said engine and the door, and a magnet operating the said valve and contained in aA circuit controlled by said switch.

4. The combination with a door-engine having a smaller piston constantly exposed to air-suppl pressure and a larger piston intermittent y exposed to said pressure, of a vvalve controlling the" pressure on the larger piston, a spring holding said valve in a position to exhaust the pressure from the lar er' cylinder, afmagnet acting on said valve 1n opposition to said spring, and a magnet-controlling switch between the engine an'd the door. Y g

' 5. The combination with a series of door-engines each having a .smaller engine constantly exposed tqair-suppl pressure' A.

.and a larger piston intermittent y exposed to said pressure, of a single valve for each engine controlllng the pressure on the largler piston, a spring for each valve norma ressure from the larger piston, a magnet or each valve acting thereon in oppositionl to said spring, a train-line to which said magnets are connected, a series of switches lfor connecting said train-line to a source of 'electrical supply andv a magnet-controlling switch between each engine and the door which it operates.

' 6. The combination with a reciprocatin pneumatic door-engine of a shaft rotate thereby, a radial arm between said shaft and the door, a valve-magnet controlling said engine, and a magnet-controlling switch between said shaft and the door.

7. The combination with a neumatic door-engine of a yieldable switc between said engine and the door and responding tothe door-closing force of said engine, a valve controlling Vthe door-o ening action of the motor and a magnet or said valve controlled by said switch.

Signed at Albany, county of Albany and State of New York, this 21st day of June, 1922.

LEE P. HYNiasg y holding it in position to exhaust said 

